Ho'olohe
by Lunedd
Summary: An addition to episode 7.20. I felt that there was still something Steve and Danny had to talk about after they were interrupted by Harry. Friendship, pure and simple.


**Author's Note** : This is another addition to episode 7.20. Something that popped up in my mind and wouldn't go away unwritten; so, here it is. I felt that there was still something Steve and Danny had to talk about after they were interrupted by Harry. (a little late, yes, I know, but I hope you all out there still like it!) It's beta-read by the wonderful SailorJP (thank you), but if there are still mistakes in it, they are all mine - not hers.

(Ho'olohe means _to listen_ )

* * *

He must have fallen asleep in his beach chair, because he only noticed Danny when the smaller man cleared his throat softly.

"Oh, hey, hi." Steve sat up straight and made a face. He felt a pinched nerve whine from sitting too long in a slumped position. "Wanna sit?" He offered with the barest motion of the hand that didn't hold the bottle of now just a bit too warm beer. He took in the sharp lines etched in the skin around Danny's mouth and eyes. Danny's exhaustion was floating above him like a dark cloud ready to swallow him. Steve watched his friend's face and his own features softened.

Danny simply sighed, nodded and slumped on his usual place at Steve's private part of the beach, the matching wooden chair next to Steve's. He practically melted into the seat, albeit taking care that the still sore and tender spot on his head didn't touch the wood. Getting clubbed over the back of the head was so not a pleasure.

"I would offer you a beer, but..." Steve motioned at Danny's head. "Doctor's orders. No beer when on drugs."

Danny reached for the ice chest nonetheless, pulling out a bottle for himself. "No drugs. So yes, beer! Rachel called, remember? And I wouldn't have been able to drive to her house when I'm full of happiness up to my eyeballs." Now _he_ made a face.

"Oh yeah, right." A thousand words crossed Steve's mind about Danny's ex-wife, most of them not exactly polite. Because only Rachel would demand her concussed ex-husband to show up when she was about to break the news of her upcoming divorce to their kids. And although the issue had burned on the back of his throat during the whole chaotic day, he wouldn't have started talking about it if Danny hadn't started first. It was Danny's right to choose the time. "Well, I still think it's a no-beer-day for you today, my friend." He snagged the bottle out of Danny's hand and continued, completely ignoring Danny's weak attempts trying to get it back. "As a matter of fact I knew you wouldn't take your meds, because you forgot the pills in my truck. So you can catch up on it and take them now." He was on his bare feet and in the house before Danny could even open his mouth to protest.

"And how am I supposed to get home?" Danny finally managed to ask when Steve returned, holding the paper bag with the pills like a trophy in one hand and a fresh bottle of water in the other. He didn't look annoyed though, as his words might have implied.

"Not at all." The grin on Steve's face was smug. "You'll crash in my bed and stay for the night."

"Uh. . ." Danny scratched his temple. "Sorry to disappoint you, pretty boy, but no way ever will I be sleeping in the same bed as you do!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "I prefer curves, Danno. And who said you'll be sleeping in my bed the same time as I do? I'll take the couch for tonight. You're pretty banged up, you need a comfortable bed to rest and recover. When Danny's eyebrows threatened to hit his hairline Steve added quickly, "I changed the covers, so don't worry".

"This is really soothing, Steven." Danny took the offered bottle of water and the pills Steve held out to him. With a sigh he threw back the pills in his mouth and swallowed them with a generous swig of water. He leaned back, staring into the direction of the ocean somewhere in the darkness.

Steve opened a new bottle of beer but didn't drink. From time to time he threw a glance sideways to Danny but didn't speak. Danny would, eventually, when he was ready.

"Grace was not surprised."

When Danny finally did speak, it was in a soft, pensive voice. He swirled the rest of the water in the bottle, watching it twist and move. "She was – um - so composed. Calm. And her eyes... they weren't exactly sad. As if she'd known for a long time that Stan and Rachel just wouldn't... fit."

Steve didn't say a word. There was no need for that. He just listened.

"She looked at me and that was the moment when _I_ almost cried." Danny's voice was coarse now, the emotions still vivid. "She was so - so mature. As if Rachel's revelation had stolen years off her childhood. Again." He swallowed visibly, and Steve's heart clenched in sympathy. "No child should go through that. And certainly not for a second time." Danny continued. He opened the bottle and emptied it. The plastic crackled when he squeezed it hard. "And then Rachel looked at me, and Steve… honestly, I couldn't be mad at her anymore." He ran a hand down his face and when he finally turned his head and looked at Steve he seemed even more strung out than before. "Bless my giant heart." The last came out in an acrid voice.

Steve wasn't ready to deal with Rachel just yet. How Danny still had feelings for the woman that had hurt him time and again was a mystery. She ripped out that loving and caring heart of his only to trample it into the dirt and shred it to pieces. She had left it to Steve and the others in Five 0 to put it back together.

"And how did Charlie take it?" He finally dared to ask.

"Charlie?" Danny squeezed the bottle harder. "He, um… He cried. But I'm not sure it was because he really understood what was going on and what a change is going to happen in his life, but because his mother and sister were agitated and I think that frightened him… and that I was there, not Stan."

The forlorn look in Danny's blue eyes made Steve's hackles rise and he fought with all his strength to keep from leaping to his feet and blasting that damned woman into oblivion. Charlie was _Danny's_ son, and yet because of Rachel's lies the little boy didn't call Danny 'Daddy' but the man Rachel was still married to. Oh, sure, they had explained to Charlie that Danny - or Danno, as he used to call him thanks to Grace - was his biological father, and he loved him. But Stan was his Daddy, the man he had known as daddy for the first three years of his life. And Danny - Danny hadn't had it in him to request that title for himself, although it was righteously his. _Bless his giant heart_.

"They'll have to move, too. Stan is going to sell the house." Danny had mashed the bottle into an unrecognizable piece of plastic by now. "I promised Rachel I'd help, of course." He sighed. "So, uh, if it's okay, I'd like to take a few vacation days - a week, maybe - to help her move once she's found a place."

Steve couldn't stop the words that poured out of his mouth. "And you're going to look _together_ with her for a new place?" They sounded much more agitated and angry than he had intended. He sat up, turning his upper body towards Danny.

Danny frowned. "Well - yes, of course. You know how realtors get when dealing with a single woman. I'll go with her just to make sure everything is on the up and up once she's found what she's looking for." He mimicked Steve's move and looked at Steve puzzled. "Why… oh, no, no, no. I thought I already made that point crystal clear. I am not going to move in with her again. Ever."

"Really? Because ' _I couldn't be mad at her anymore'_ speaks a different language." Steve pushed the bottle of beer into the sand and crossed his arms. He knew he was perhaps not entirely fair to Danny, but his friend had been in such a sullen mood all day since Rachel told him about her pending divorce that he feared for the worst. And yes - Danny going back to the woman he had two children with was indeed a worst case scenario.

"She ditched you, remember?" The anger that had been seething all day long inside Steve's mind boiled over. "Not just once but several times. And now you think about finding a new home for her, maybe even closer to your own house? Just because _she looked at you_?"

"Watch it, Steve." Danny's voice was dangerously quiet. "I ditched her too, remember? When she was pregnant and went back to Jersey with Grace." He didn't add _because of you I didn't follow her_ , but Steve still could hear it. Danny had chosen to stay and prove Steve's innocence when Governor Jameson had been murdered.

"Oh, come on. This is not about you still feeling guilty for that, is it? Danny… you don't still think you have to make up for that decision from five years ago now, do you? Please tell me you don't think Rachel's lies to you _and_ to Stan _and_ to the kids are your fault?!" Was that the reason why Danny had been so subdued and obedient towards Rachel and her wishes whenever she demanded something of him in the last five years? Steve blinked, realizing that that was what had driven Danny all those years. And he hadn't noticed it.

Danny fiddled with the destroyed bottle. "I - _no_! Well… maybe… maybe we would have managed to still be together. For the kids. They wouldn't have to go through the painful act of a divorce - in Grace's case _again_. I know she loves Stan, too."

Steve noticed that Danny didn't mention Rachel in this. "So it's all about the kids." Somehow he felt a little bit relieved. He knew that Danny would always feel a kind of love towards Rachel, but hopefully he would also be wise enough not to start a new relationship with her. Because… "Still, she lied to you. About Charlie. And now that she realizes that she can't make Stan stay with her because of the same lie she told you, she is turning back to you because she knows of your stupid giant heart. She knows you would never ever turn her down, even if it's just because of the kids. She's egoistic and maybe narcissistic, and would even sell her own grandmother if she could benefit from it. Think further. Please. Do you really think she would stay this time? I don't believe so. Besides… if you want to give your relationship another try - don't do it just because of the kids. They will know that something is wrong. And they'll feel guilty when they'll find out that you only stayed together for their sake and not out of love."

Danny started shaking his head while Steve talked. "No. No, no, no. You don't know her. It's not - she's not like that." Even to his own ears that sounded pretty weak, because he realized that Steve _did_ have a point. "She's just… you make her sound like an asshole. And make me look like an idiot. Don't you think I'm old enough to see clearly? You drive my car. You decide what I have to eat every lunchtime. You even tell me when to take my pills. But don't you dare mess with _my_ relationship with Rachel!"

Steve went for that. "So now you _do_ have a relationship with Rachel!"

Danny threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "Yes, _of course_ I have a relationship with her, Steven! She and I, we have two children together! I will always have a relationship with Rachel whether I like it or not." He threw the abused water bottle into the basket next to the ice chest. "And I'll tell you again, Steve. Don't try to control that part of my life, too. This is none of your business!"

Steve slipped forward on his chair, almost unable to stay seated. "But Danny, _it is my business_! It's my business because I am your boss with Five-0. I need you centered and fully concentrating on the job when we're out on a mission. If not, I won't have the expertise of a great man! A man whose head is at home because his ex-wife is unable to keep her tantrum fits to herself! A woman with absolutely zero impulse control who hurts and humiliates him on a daily basis!"

He saw the hurt and disappointment that spread over Danny's face with these harsh words and continued, softening his voice. He reached out and touched Danny's forearm with an affectionate gesture. "And it's even more my business because you're my friend, Danny. My best friend. I love you and I don't want to see you hurt. Especially when I know that this will happen when you try to establish more than just a friendly relationship with Rachel."

Danny didn't jerk his arm away from Steve's touch, and when he looked at him his eyes were tired. "And just when did I say I wanted to get together with Rachel again? Huh? Tell me, Steve, because I must have missed this part of the conversation. This… this episode of my life is over. It took me a damn long time to realize it, but I'm through with it. Really. No matter what Stan said about Rachel still loving me."

Steve wasn't convinced. "Perhaps you should let this day come to an end and go to sleep, Danny. Perhaps tomorrow you can see more clearly, with all that has happened today and look at decisions with a fresh mind. You always tell me to look into cases with an objective mind, and perhaps you should listen to your own advice in this one, too."

"A case? This is my failed marriage and the second failed marriage of Rachel we're talking about, Steven, not a goddamn case! Why would you even make a comparison between these things?" Danny rubbed his forehead, in doing so pulling his arm away from Steve's touch.

"Because with cases, you are always sharp and objective-" Steve started.

"But that's my job, Steve. Not my private life! I've made so many bad decisions for my private life, this one, _this one_ I want to make right!" Danny sighed, franticly rubbing his forehead even more.

"Bad decisions? Like - like what? Moving to Hawaii?" Steve couldn't help but spit the words out. This was getting frustrating and definitely not the way he had wanted the conversation to go. He had wanted to show Danny his support, not push him further into the dirt.

Danny's shoulders fell. "No. This was certainly one of the better ones. And after all these years you should know that!" He rose to his feet, obviously unsure what to do. "Perhaps I should take your advice and go to sleep. In my bed. In my home."

Steve jumped up, too. "Hey… don't. Okay? I won't badger you anymore, okay? Just… stay. I just… I just want to help you." _And protect you. And keep pain and disappointment from you. And the next low blow from which you maybe don't recover_.

There must have been something in Steve's eyes that made Danny halt. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, giving in. "I need time to sort out my thoughts, Steve. And my emotions. I'm not sure I'm a guest you want to have in your house tonight." Danny felt bone tired, his eyes were burning and the constant headache seemed to have doubled in the short time since he had left Rachel. But still he wasn't sure if he could simply lie down and go to sleep. He shrugged.

Steve put a gentle hand on Danny's elbow. "I'll manage", he answered reassuringly and led Danny into the house. At the bottom of the stairs he let go and watched Danny slowly walk up the steps. He wanted to tell his bullheaded friend so much; wanted to hammer some sense into the blonde's thick skull, wanted to make him see Rachel the way _he_ saw her, hell, how even Chin or Lou saw her. But the bent-forward frame of Danny, and the weariness and the desperation he emanated made Steve forget all the words, all the good reasons he had concocted in his mind, and all he could muster to say was simply coming from the depth of his heart.

"Just remember, Danno. No matter what choice you make - I'll have your back. Always."


End file.
